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FTW88DPA01

1987-12-04 · DALLAS, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport ADS

N206DW has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (CESSNA T206H, built 1999), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE FUEL PUMP WARNING LIGHT CAME ON AND THE PILOT HEADED FOR A LOCAL AIRPORT. ENROUTE, THE ENGINE SURGED AND FLAMED OUT. DURING THE LANDING, THE ROTOR BLADES HIT TREES, AND THE HELICOPTER MADE A HARD LANDING. THE FUEL GAGE INDICATED 11 GALLONS. LATER THE GAGE INDICATED 14 GALLONS, BUT FIVE GALLONS TOTAL WERE DRAINED FROM THE TANK. WITH THE TANK EMPTY, THE GAGE INDICATED 8 GALLONS. THERE WAS NO FUEL IN THE AIRFRAME FILTER. AFTER THE FUEL BOOST PUMP WAS TURNED ON, THERE WAS FUEL IN THE HP FILTER. PILOT STATED IN REPORT, 'DUE TO THE FAULTY FUEL BOOST PUMP AND INACCURATE FUEL GAGE READING, AIRCRAFT SUSTAINED ENGINE FAILURE DUE TO FUEL STARVATION'. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1987_FTW88DPA01.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel starvation, engine failure). All research papers